The Time Has Come

It is time to start weaning from stuff. I have been collecting books for years. They are great books, but one could not possibly read all these books again. My fingers are being pried from them, as the possibility in the future of going to Ukraine comes 1 day sooner every day.
I started thinking.... "If there were a fire, what would I want to save?" Of course my bible... Then after that? The Complete Works of Johathan Edwards. After that? The complete works of John Bunyan. After that? The sermons of Martin Luther.

I started thinking... All these men's lives were changed by Jesus Christ and they studied.... The Scripture. :) I have what I need.

Then, there are the reference books. The ones about the Amish, about Islam, about Israel, about The Charismatic Movement, about Child Rearing, about Adoption, about Raising hurt children.

Then, there are the LOADS of kids books, that we will keep for a while, as we still have kids.

Then, there are the movies we have collected again over the years from that 5 dollar bin at walmart.

Then, there are the excesses collected over the years from garage sales.
The baskets,
The glasses
The storage jars

I'm exhausted and I haven't even started.

I WILL DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS! THE LORD WILL HELP ME DO THIS!

I need a nap. :)

When Green Meets Walmart

I HATE plastic bags! They are a waste and I always see them blowing across the freeway ready to get trapped under my vehicle and wreak havoc, getting twisted around something and causing damage. One of our customers had to fix his vehicle after a bag got twisted around his inside wheel and caused fluid loss! The seal had to be replaced.

So, I'm a green girl. I like to bring my cloth bags to the store, but sometimes I still forget.

Yesterday was one of those times. I noticed however that Walmart is selling cute little bags that say, "Paper or Plastic, Neither" on them; for 1.00.

I can always use another bag, so I took 2.(thinking this would solve my "forgetting the bag problem")

So, we put our stuff on the conveyor belt and the register locks up. I have to put all the stuff back into the cart and move to another check out stand, and wait again. By now, I'm a bit frustrated waiting so long, as the person in front of me left a bag and the checker ran out of the store to catch her. By now, I have sent the girls over to sit down on the bench as Erika's legs were getting tired.

So, the checker comes back and apologizes. He continues to check my things and before I know it, I see him putting them in those awful plastic bags.

The funny part is: He checked my "cloth grocery bags", and proceeded to put them in a plastic bag! By now, my frustration had turned to humorous amuzment.
Of course I smiled and said, "Have a nice Day", and went on my way home, contributing to the floating plastic bag problem once again.

I'll prevail next time. :)

Amazing Books

I need to get past my toilet problems, as I am tired of staring at that glaring picture. (it looks the same in real life)

I wanted to write about 2 books that I read this week.

I have always had a deep admiration for the Amish communities in our country and the Anabaptist Heritage. Our own church has Anabaptist roots.

The Anabaptist's split into 3 main groups... The Amish, The Mennonites and the Brethren. Our church is "loosely" affiliated with Brethren; but seems more like a
regular bible church; except for women who cover their heads and our church government.

The Books I read this week had to do the with the Nickel Mine's Massacre of the Amish School Girls in Lancaster County. It was a terrible tragedy, but the books brought to light a different side of that tragedy.

The first book "The Happening", by Harvey Yoder; was a true glimplse into the personal effects of the tragedy on each family and the general community, and how the families felt about the intruding public into thier lives.

The second book was called, "Amish Grace". Its focus was on the forgiveness offered after the tragedy and how the community pulled together after unsepakable suffering.
This book was a fascinating study into what forgiveness looks like and what it is.
It is also a look into the struggle to forgive and what the Amish see as true forgiveness.

If you have an opportunity to read either of these books, I'd recommend them, especially the second one.

There were many challenges and questions and explanations into the deep issues presented in Matthew 18 and Matthew 5.

How About Toilet Trouble!

Oh my, what a beginning to a week! I noticed last week that the bathroom floor seemed like it was sort of wet. I thought the 5 girls had been sloppy, dried it and went on.
Then on Saturday, I noticed the wood laminate flooring in the bathroom starting to buckle. There was a leak under the toilet, seeping along under the floor.

So, it looks like we will be "remodeling" a bathroom. If you have to change the floor, you may as well paint right? And fix a few other things too. :)

We had agreed to no jobs being done until the siding was finished, but this one seems that it will have to trump the siding for now.

Here is a lovely picture of the floor buckling.


The hole in the floor actually reminds me of some of the "toilets" we saw in Ukraine.

Camera Troubles

For the past few months, I have been having a battle with my camera. It seems to get stuck out of focus even on automatic and manual and it takes a zillion tries to get a focused decent picture. Isn't that a tortuous picture to look at? That is how many of our photos are turning out, and then all of a sudden, we have 1 good one. But guess what! Our friends from Church are getting a new camera, and when they do, they said we could take over their older one. Horray!

God really does provide. We take photos for many different reasons. For out of state family and for others. I send pictures to Ukraine every year, and sometimes mid year to the Embassy. (This helps keep open relations in the adoption world)

Many times, the only thing the EE gov'ts. hear about is when there is a problem, like the recent arrest of 2 parents in the death of their newly adopted 14 month old and severe malnourishment of their 2 year old. The baby died of blunt force trauma to the head. He had only been home 2 weeks. The 2 year old had been home for 3 months and was on a feeding tube to help him. The verdict is not yet out on what exactly happened, but it doesn't matter to foreign govt's. They want to make sure ALL of their children are safe, even if they haven't taken the best care of them either. So if we can assure them that our 2 are safe, I think it goes a long way in positive relations.

If you are reading this, and your are an adoptive parent, take time to get natural, play time pictures of your children, with you, in your home, in the back yard, with your spouse and with other family and send them to the embassys of your children's country. You would be surprised how much it helps, just by being a good Unoffical Ambassador. :)

We did this rather innocently with Sarah for nearly a year, every month, emailing pictures to the embassy. We did not know it, but every picture was forwarded to the judge who handled her failed adoption. He was very pleased, so when we went to get Erika, he had already seen our pictures and read our letters and was really very friendly. He even asked us why we were so serious. (we were told not to smile) He smiled for everybody.:)

I will pray that the Lord Uses this new camera to do His work, in opening the hearts of those who have power over the lives of Orphans in Ukraine and other places in Eastern Europe, opening the doors so more children can find forever families that they so desperately need.

HE IS RISEN! INDEED!

Our Last Night Together

Well, tonight is our last night together. We really did have a fun week. I'm glad the girls could come and that we could spend some time with them.

So here are some of the last pictures of the day, of Katie and Lillian, my precious grand daughters. A gramma could not be prouder.

The Grave Could NOT Hold Him

We went to the Verkler's house for Easter Brunch this morning and they had made a centerpiece for their table. The tomb, with a STONE! Tomorrow, that STONE will be ROLLED away! Jesus is RISEN! It was a great picture of what the LORD has done for us.
That HE is NO LONGER in the grave but HE LIVES!

I was excited about seeing it, so I made one for the girls. They are excited about checking in the morning to make sure the stone is rolled away, and it is a BIG stone!
But nothing was too big for OUR GOD!

I also saw a you tube video that presents a very great gospel message. It is one of my favorite worship songs called "IN CHRIST ALONE".

You can find it on my side bar under YOUTUBE VIDEOS. "In Christ Alone"

HAPPY EASTER!

Easter Week Reflections

It has been a flurry of activity around here and I have an hour right now to slow down abit before we go off to the Verkler's for an Easter Brunch.

I hae been ever aware of my sin this week, as I am being challenged with 2 extra girls thrown into the mix. I have been called Gramma, Mommy, Mother, Grandmother, Mom, Momma in mixed up order.
Sometimes the grandgirls have called me Mommy and the girlies have called me gramma! :/

I have had tired moments and grouchy moments and moments of joy, seeing each little bundle of joy fast asleep, and moments of COFFEE! NOW! When I hear them stir in the morning.

It is funny how we can get in a smoothe routine and everything is fine, and then, that routine is broken into and our schedule different , and then everything seems "out of sorts". Our seemingly calm existence is turned on its head, and I am once again on my knees repenting for my selfish heart. That selfish heart that wants things a little quieter, neater, did I say quieter?

And the Lord speaks to my heart and lets me know....

I'm depending a little too much on myslef, and not enough on Him. His grace is sufficient for me, but I have to open up and stop doing things on my own.

I realized how much I depend upon a "well oiled ship" for things to run, and sometimes that Oil is organization or schedule instead of the oil of the Spirit in our lives.

Oh my, our sin nature is ever present, just under the surface, ready to pop out its ugly head. "Don't do that!" "No Whining!" "Did you get in the Mud AGAIN?" "Please go to sleep!" "Yes, we carry in wood, if we want to be warm! Do you want to be warm?"

Isn't that gracious? NOT....

I am so glad this week happened. I loved visiting my grand girlies, but I also know that the instruction of the Lord, chastising me for my attitude shows that HE ever loves me. The Lord Chastens those whom he loves, so I am grateful for that too.

It is with sorrow and tears that I write, confessing that I need more time with my Lord. I am thankful that I can run to him, and he lets me whine, and bring in my mud, and prefers me to be awake so we can commune, and he warms my heart. He cleanses me and then again, works to conform me to His Image.

I am Oh so far from that.
I long to be Like Christ. I long to reflect his image.

I cannot do it on my own.

Many times we hear that the Lord sends Children for us to teach; but in His master plan, He also gives us those children to teach us.

Ok, back to normal

A big thanks to Melissa for helping me find the little trash can. :)

We are back to normal. No moderation or word thingy. :)

Comments Monitor On now

I love it when you comment, but on our zoo post, I got some wierd spam thing that froze my computer and said it was "scanning" for viruses. Of course it was supposedly scanning for a PC, and I have a mac. duh

So, I am now going to moderate comments. I didn't want to, but if something gets posted, it can't be deleted, so I guess it is safer that way.

So if your comment doesn't show up right away, you'll know why. I'll try to get it up as quickly as possible. :)

The Zoo Trip

We started our morning early, and left the house by 8:30 a.m. so we could catch the train to the Zoo. We had a long walk from the parking lot to the train, then when we got to the zoo, I had never been so thankful that we have a zoo membership! The lines were unbelievable. It seems after all that rain, everybody had the same idea!

We spent more time in a new part of the zoo that we usually don't go to because it is so hilly, and the wheel chair on hills, well, is hard for this old body to manage.
BUT.... early! We did it. I'm not so sure at this typing it was such a great idea, BUT... I'm not complaining. We had a great time. :)

Of Knights and Fair Maidens

Today we had lunch with our Friend Julie and her son Daniel. They are studying Medieval times, so we had a Medieval lunch. Julie worked very hard on the menu which included 2 kinds of bean soups, spices that were of the day, a salad and cake. (from today) :)

The kids had a great time making hats and doing some fun art work.
Thanks Julie and Daniel for a great time.

This Puts New Meaning To the Words

Would you PLEASE keep your feet off of the COUCH!

Spring Break Happenings

I Was Missing Jim Today

That time is coming. The Anniversary of Jim going to Heaven to be with Jesus.
It has been on my mind, and then yesterday, Elayne asked everybody to write her a tribute to the famous Minich Family Dining Room Table that they are inheriting and refurbishing from Ed and Lois.

You know, nearly every memory I have of Minichs includes Jim. The first time I ever met Jim we sat at that table and played "sort of" played Spades. He was my teacher for the evening... I still can't figure out if he was really annoyed with me or just playing. :)

Jim showed up at our house in Texas one day with Cindy, before He and Cindy got married so he could introduce her to us on the way to a friend's wedding. I always thought that was so cute.

Then there were the endless water ski camping trips where I was the camp cook. :)

Then, there was the famous "get his car fixed" trip he made to Texas 5 years ago. He ran into his Mailbox and came down to get a good job done cheap. He paid for the finished job, we took him to dinner and while we were gone a major hail storm totaled his famous Hemi Truck.

He got a better one. :)

The last ski trip we went on was great. Even Lois went, which is unusual for Lois, but it was meant to be. Lots of us together... enjoyed the wonderful day. On the Way home from that trip, it was announced that Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) had died in a freak accident. I was so sad for his wife and children; he was such a great and active father and his children were so young.

Then, the next thing we knew, Jim was sick. He had come down ill over the holidays with some sort of flu, and didn't feel better. By February, he was in the hospital with Leukemia.
LEUKEMIA? JIM? But it was true.

We went to see him and held his hand and at the last minute made a decision to let the girls go in and tell him they loved him. I am so thankful that we did that.

Less than 2 weeks later, Jim had a complication from the Chemo that caused a pulmonary embolism (?) and he was in intensive care. We got a call to COME, and we came. On the way up to Tulsa, we had our cell phone on and sang hymns and chorusus with our other family members and prayed for Jim. When we got there, he had stabalized. After staying a few days we went back home. It was such an empty feeling. We wanted to be there, but had responsibilites here. Being so far away really stinks. Then after 6 more weeks our Sweet Jim, quietly slipped into eternity. We left for Tulsa once again, this time, for our dear brother's funeral.

And as we drove home once again, I thought about what a great Husband and Father he was to Cindy and Emily.
It sounds silly, but I also thought about the Irwin's once again. (I always admired them) I was comforted by how they had begun to pick up the pieces of their lives after such a tragic loss, and knew that Cindy and Emily would do the same.

Jim left us with so many great memories. Every time we pass a lake, we cannot pass it, without thinking about Jim; we cannot see a "Hemi", without thinking of Jim and I cannot go to Red Lobster without thinking of Silly Jim sitting there with a bunch of plastic beaded necklaces he conned off of the waitress to take home to Emily.

If you are reading this and have brothers and sisters, don't forget to tell them how much you love them.
It may be the last chance you have, until we meet again.

If you go to my side bar and scroll down to "Fellow Family Bloggers", there is a Tribute to Jim. A youtube slide show.

Take A Picture It Might Last Longer...

So I did. :)

Lilly Meets The Fire Ants

Poor old Lilly ran into some rather unfriendly guests in the goat yard today. How dare they bite a very sweet toddler~! She sure was doing a dance when I ran to get her. I think it is the Lilly Fire Ant Dance!
Gladly, they only got her finger hand and wrist. And, Gramma has some really cool magic fire ant sting go away medicine.
Sorry Chuck and Jodie. :)

More Park Days

We had a really nice time at the park today. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold.
We got there before the expected rain coming. Lillian went on the swings by herself and down the big girl slide. Erika was able to go up and down the slide, YEA!
Sarah, Katie and Anna, enjoyed hanging upside down.

We are all RESTING now. :)

Park Days